Statements by the two winners of the Valencia Half-Marathon 2019: Yomif Kejelcha and Semberi Teferi

29 October, 2019

The winners of the 29th Valencia Half-Marathon Trinidad Alfonso EDP, Yomil Kejelcha and Sembere Teferi, spoke at the post-race Press Conference to give their impressions. They were joined by Paco Borao, the Race Manager.

Paco Borao said “We congratulate the two winners and regret that Sifan fell twice during the trial. All in all, we had a good race even though we did not hit our target for the women’s time. However this year’s men’s winner once again set a time of under an hour”.

Sembere Teferi, Women’s winner with a time of 1 hour 05:32, came in ahead of Sifan Hassan and Joan Chelimo. She said “I am very happy to have won in Valencia. I felt good and it was a great day”.

Yomif Kejelcha, Men’s winner with a time of 59:05, stated “This was my second half-marathon and even though I had a foot injury, I was able to run fast and win. But I would have liked to have improved my time. Even so, I had the strength to sprint ahead of the other runners on the final stretch”.

Sifan Hassan — one of the favourites — came in second, setting a time of 1 hour 05:53. She recovered after two falls on the circuit and despite this stroke of bad luck, was still among those on the winners’ podium. She is keen to return to Valencia to compete. Sifan said “I am pleased to be in Valencia but it was a pity I fell twice”.